


Flour For You

by pastelpinks



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Childhood Friends, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Kwon and Jeon Mommies are bffs, Light Angst, M/M, Meeting Again, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Oblivious Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi, Use your words Kwon Soonyoung, Wonwoo pigtail pulling is not very effective
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:01:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22387609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pastelpinks/pseuds/pastelpinks
Summary: Wonwoo and Soonyoung, ex-childhood best friends and long time enemies (it's one sided, honestly), get partnered up to bake a cake. Chaos (and a butt load of baking puns) ensues.Or the one where Soonyoung thinks Wonwoo hates his entire existence and lives to make his high school life unbearable. He couldn't be more wrong.
Relationships: Jeon Wonwoo/Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi
Comments: 18
Kudos: 193





	Flour For You

**Author's Note:**

> Hello 2020! First fic of the decade but this WIP has been sitting idly in my notes for almost two years now (I started writing this during Clap era I-) sobs
> 
> Enjoy!

People say that when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

Funny because when life gives Jeon Wonwoo lemons, he shoves them on top of a terribly unstable one layered cake.

“No- what the hell are you doing- stop that!” Soonyoung whispers aggressively to his partner, not wanting to gain the attention of everyone else in the room.

He slaps Jeon Wonwoo’s hand away, takes the oval yellow fruit and sets it aside- where it’s supposed to be.

“Killjoy,” Wonwoo mumbles.

Soonyoung glares at him to find the guy already fiddling with the confectionery sugar, the insult forgotten and left hanging in the air. Soonyoung huffs and looks up at the ceiling as though praying for patience.

“Can you not be an asshole for like,” Soonyoung checks his wrist watch then goes back to glare at the taller boy, “Forty-three minutes? This is my Home Economics grade you’re sabotaging here!” 

Wonwoo sends him a side glance accompanied with a smirk, it takes all of Soonyoung not to scoop a spoonful of icing from his bowl and throw it to his smug face, “I don’t know.” The taller says, “Forty-three minutes might be a stretch. I’m pretty _fond-ue_ of you.”

Soonyoung groans almost face palming himself with his flour covered hands, “Don’t! Do not start with the puns, Jeon Wonwoo.”

“What are you talking about? You used to _loaf_ my puns.”

“Ughh.” If it was possible to groan himself into a puff of white smoke, that’s exactly what Soonyoung wanted to do right now.

Jeon Wonwoo has not changed. Not one bit. He’s still the annoying little shit he was back when they were seven. Now they’re seventeen and he still knows how to get into Soonyoung’s nerves. No one does it like he does.

Sure. They were thick as thieves when they were young. Raised by their moms together, always getting shoved together in the playground, Wonwoo with his ugly round glasses and Soonyoung with his ugly metal braces—celebrating their birthdays that were a only month apart together, going to the aquarium together, getting their moms to buy them matching backpacks to school together, even pinky swearing to stay together forever and okay call Soonyoung petty but he was raised to _not_ like big fat liars by his parents so when Wonwoo suddenly stopped coming to the playground when they were ten and Soonyoung found out his family had moved to a different town without telling him, safe to say that betrayed was an understatement.

Fast forward to freshmen year of high school, with childhood memories all but a blur and childhood best friends were all but distant memories, alas, like any coming of age story line, the long lost friends meet again. The universe probably hated Soonyoung and wanted him to suffer because there _he_ was, standing at almost five foot nine with probably the most radiant smile Soonyoung has ever seen on anyone with freaking round glasses on—it was unfair how good someone can look while wearing supposedly unappealing eyewear—Jeon Wonwoo, without a hint of doubt. The traitor.

Soonyoung was determined not to meet his eyes. Determined to pretend he didn’t exist. If they didn’t have classes together and if he made sure their paths would never cross, he’d be able to survive high school without having to interact with Jeon Wonwoo. But he was the Katniss Everdeen of his own life story, the odds were never in his favor so surprise surprise, they were in the same class and Jeon Wonwoo sat right in front of him (whoever invented alphabetical orders can go drown themselves now, thank you very much). The only consolation was that he could glare at the back of his head as much as he wanted.

The moment the teacher called out his last name for roll call plus the slow motion moment he still specifically remembers as Jeon Wonwoo turned to him from his seat, was the very moment he knew that his high school life was _over._

Pretty sure the guy hated him now because all he’s been doing since their untimely reunion was making Soonyoung’s life miserable. Not only was he always leagues better at everything compared to Soonyoung—Except dancing. No way. Soonyoung will never go down without a fight if dancing was involved—He also loved to rub his achievements in his face, for one.

Like that one time he became a top-notcher in one of their national exams in their Sophomore year? God, Soonyoung never heard the end of it. 

_“Soonyoung look, here’s the certificate I received!”_

_“Cool.”_

_“Soonyoung, won’t you buy me ice cream because I aced the test?”_

_“In your dreams.”_

_“Soonyoung, do you think auntie will be proud of me? She used to congratulate me all the time when we were younger!”_

_“Oh yeah, sure. My mom always liked you more than her own son didn’t she?”_

That wasn’t true, he never cared that his mother was extremely fond of Wonwoo, in fact, he always brimmed with joy whenever his mom doted on his best friend. It was probably an off-handed response what with the way Wonwoo’s eyes widened in surprise and the way his shoulders slightly sagged. It should be okay, the sinking feeling in Soonyoung’s stomach at Wonwoo’s sad expression was nothing. At least, it got him to finally stop. Right?

Not really. That wasn’t enough to deter the ever persistent Jeon Wonwoo. Oh how he loved making fun of Soonyoung in every way possible. Like he said, the guy finds joy in making his high school life as miserable as can be.

He remembers when Wonwoo went around showing everyone in class a clip of him making a mistake in one of his performances. The one move he’d been working so hard on, his double pirouette. He knew he hadn’t perfected it yet the moment they went on stage but he nodded to himself and tried it anyways. It was a little off, he might’ve forgotten to elongate his neck enough and kind of missed his spot point on the second turn but he didn’t think it was a big deal until, well, until he found out Wonwoo had been in the audience filming the whole thing and pointing his mistake out to everyone because he liked making Soonyoung suffer like that. 

Junhui and Myungho had approached him with small smiles and gave him wordless pats on the shoulder as if to tell him, he did okay and that he shouldn’t care about what Wonwoo thought. He didn’t. Not at all. Except he did because he was a people-pleaser in general and he may not have cared what Wonwoo thought of him but he cared about what his teammates and his classmates did. So. There’s that.

There was another time when Wonwoo picked up a stray during one of their after school cleaning duties in their Junior year and named it _Soonie_ because _“it looks like you!”_ Like? How the hell did he even resemble a cat? Wonwoo obviously did it to mock him. The nerve! If anything, Soonyoung was more like a tiger but no! It was a small ugly kitten that wouldn’t stop mewling. Wonwoo probably didn’t even know how to keep a pet cat or any pet alive long enough. And he kept going on and on about having become a cat parent at such a young age, Soonyoung had to finish their clean up duties all by himself.

_“Soonie, I’m Wonwoo, your dad. This is Soonyoung, you were named after him, he is your other dad.”_

_“I am it’s other what!”_

_“Welcome to the family.”_ Wonwoo coos at the dirty kitten, ignoring Soonyoung completely.

  
  


“Soonie, did you want gummy worms or gummy bears on this side?”

He blinks back to reality at the sight of senior high school Wonwoo decapitating a red gummy bear with his teeth.

“How many times have I told you to stop calling me that?” He frowns at the nickname.

“And how many times have I told you to save your breath? I’m never not gonna call you Soonie.”

“It’s a childhood name for a reason!” Soonyoung half hisses, “We’re supposed to leave it inside our time capsule like all our other childhood memories! Or did you want me to start calling you Won-Won again?” 

Wonwoo shrugs, building an army of assorted gummy bears on one side of the cake, “I liked it when you called me Won-won. Made me feel special.”

Soonyoung sucks in a breath. Turning away from the fond smile on Wonwoo’s face like he was remembering something happy.

“Shut up. I don’t like being reminded that you named your cat after my childhood nickname.”

“Mm. It’s cute though.”

“Please.”

“What? It’s true. You’re both cute.”

Soonyoung closes his eyes and counts slowly from one to three before opening his eyes. Praying that his ears aren’t turning beet red.

Oh, he almost forgot.

It also didn’t help that he’s kind of in love with his ex-childhood best friend now. It really didn’t help his operation: never-forgive-Wonwoo-for-leaving-you-behind-and-breaking-our-pinky-promise because high school Wonwoo despite everything, was simply amazing. He was smart, funny, kind and gorgeous, almost every girl and boy would trip on their own feet at the sight of the Jeon Wonwoo in the hallways.

Not that Soonyoung had tripped on his own feet at the sight of Jeon Wonwoo in the hallways, he’s sure someone had tripped him that one time and that that there was something on the floor that one other time. He wasn’t _that_ head over heels with Jeon Wonwoo, _psh_. 

Besides. The guy hated him so much that he loved making his life miserable at every turn because let’s face it, who would like a boisterous hyper-active class clown? Soonyoung pretends, no, tries to hate him just us much but to no avail. 

  
  


“It’s a special day today,” Wonwoo says, still smiling down at the cake, “It’s kind of funny that we have to make a cake for our Econ class today too.”

Soonyoung tilts his head trying to remember the date, “Oh! It is auntie’s birthday today isn’t it?” He slaps the back of his hand on his mouth as soon as the words make it out of his lips, blushing at the slip of tongue, he didn’t mean to keep track of every single detail of Wonwoo’s life. Muscle memory! That’s what it was.

“You remembered.” Wonwoo was now full on grinning at him and Soonyoung pretends to cough, looking away from the blinding smile, “Did you want to come celebrate with us?” Comes Wonwoo’s gentle tone of voice from beside him.

Soonyoung sputters and blames it on his own general clumsiness when he accidentally elbows the mixing bowl to his right, he was not tripping over himself because Jeon Wonwoo just asked him if he wanted to come celebrate his mom’s birthday with Soonyoung, absolutely not.

“Wh-whuh?”

Wonwoo reaches out to pry the mixing bowl out of Soonyoung’s arms and he watches him set it down on his side of the table, “She misses you. When I told her we were in the same class, she hasn't stopped bothering me about wanting to see “how much you’ve grown” since she last saw you.” Wonwoo raises air quotes at that then the smirk makes it back to his features, “Not that you’ve grown a whole lot since she last saw you, of course.”

“You’re a little shit, Jeon Wonwoo.” Soonyoung seethes. Why did he like this guy again?

Wonwoo barks out a laugh then goes back to decorating their gummy bear empire cake, “I’m just teasing.” He says, “But think about it, yeah? I’ll _knead_ your answer by the end of the day.”

“Oh fuck off with the puns, will ya?”

Wonwoo laughs louder, and Soonyoung does not preen at the few looks they get at that.

—

He shifts his weight from one foot to the other, the small square box holding the now completed gummy bear empire cake crinkling as it brushes against his thigh. Soonyoung’s thinking about how ridiculous this is but he also wants to convince himself that he’s doing this for auntie. Not because Wonwoo invited him and smiled at him like he used to when they were kids.

He probably looks like an idiot, waiting for Wonwoo by the bike rack. He knew Wonwoo didn’t live far from their school but he only knew that because he said so himself, that their new house wasn’t very far from their old one and their families were practically neighbors back in the day.

“Soonyoung-ah!”

He looks up at Wonwoo’s voice, the guy had his school bag slung across his chest, sleeves rolled up to the elbows and had a smile that was brighter than the sun. He skids to a stop a feet away from Soonyoung, slightly panting, “Sorry for the wait.”

Soonyoung thinks it takes him a second or two to respond, opening and closing his mouth a few times before blurting out, “I just got here.”

Lies. He’d waited almost fifteen minutes but he was not going to admit that.

Wonwoo looked glorious. Life was unfair. He couldn’t go leaving Soonyoung behind without a word then coming back and pretend like nothing happened. Soonyoung’s heart had broken into a million tiny pieces back then but now he realizes that his heart was breaking into an additional million tiny pieces for a whole different reason. 

The cold jarring reality that all he’s ever going to be to Wonwoo is a former childhood friend.

“Ready to go?” Wonwoo asks and Soonyoung doesn’t trust himself to say anything intelligent so he just nods.

“You don’t mind hopping on, do you?” He asks as he unlocks his bike lock, “Sorry, it’s not a fancy motorbike.”

“No. It’s fine.” Soonyoung murmurs awkwardly, “I’m more worried about how it’s going to hold both of us.”

Wonwoo chuckles, “Oh, it probably won’t even notice you’re with me.” He winks teasingly then swings his leg over the bike, righting himself. 

“Fuck you.” Soonyoung rolls his eyes and struggles to situate himself on the makeshift bike seat behind Wonwoo. When he does, he’s left debating where he should be putting his hand. He was balancing the cake on his one thigh and making spirit fingers with his free hand because he didn’t know what to do with it.

“Hold on to me.” He hears Wonwoo say in front of him and he’s suddenly thankful that the other boy had his back to him because the statement had Soonyoung sweating buckets. 

“I- Uh, yeah.” He mutters awkwardly, curling his fingers on the side Wonwoo’s uniform. And then Wonwoo’s turning his upper body, stretching to find where Soonyoung was holding on to with a small frown.

“Soon, you’re going to fall off if you don’t hold on properly.”

“I _am_ holding on properly.” He tries to snap back but it’s weak and Wonwoo’s already shaking his head and prying Soonyoung’s hand off of his uniform before pulling on it gently to encircle his waist. The movement also pulls Soonyoung closer to him, his cheek almost resting against Wonwoo’s very broad back. He gulps.

“Like this, idiot.” Wonwoo says but his voice lacked the usual snark. Soonyoung thinks he can almost hear a smile in his voice but that’s stupid.

“You’re the idiot.” Soonyoung says as Wonwoo starts pedaling. His insult probably gone with the wind as they picked up speed. He sighs and leans his cheek on Wonwoo’s back, it reminded him of their childhood. 

  
  
-

He is bubbling with anxiety when they step onto the porch of Wonwoo’s house. He hasn’t seen auntie in years and has always brushed off his own mother’s questions about Wonwoo. He’s pretty sure the two of them almost always see each other for brunch dates or whatever. 

As if reading his mind, Wonwoo comes up behind him and says, “Don’t worry. She’s gonna be so thrilled when she sees you.” 

Soonyoung bites his lower lip and nods. He follows Wonwoo in with squared shoulders and a box of a DIY probably poisonous cake in his hands, he can do this.

“Mom! I’m home, I brought a gift!” Wonwoo yells from the entryway, toeing off his shoes and then grinning at Soonyoung, “You can just leave your shoes here.”

“ _Hyuuuuung,_ you’re late,” A deep voice, almost similar to Wonwoo’s, whines from somewhere within the house, “Dad left to buy something for Mom he said-" Wonwoo rolls his eyes just as another tall boy rounds the corner coming towards them, “but I betcha he just didn’t want to deal with all the mess Mom always makes whenever she cooks- oh. Holy shit.” He and Soonyoung makes eye contact and the words die from his mouth.

“Jeon Bohyuk! Language!” A female voice shouts from what Soonyoung guesses is the kitchen.

“Bohyuk?” Soonyoung whispers in surprise, looking the now teenage boy up and down. He’s gotten so big since Soonyoung’s last seen him. Naturally.

“Oh. Ohoho, I see now.” Bohyuk nods as if reaching an epiphany, eyebrows waggling but he wasn’t looking at Soonyoung anymore, “So this is your surprise, huh, hyung? You sly fox.” He says to his older brother who was scowling back at him. Soonyoung resists the temptation to laugh, looks like there’s someone in the world that exists to annoy Wonwoo as much as he annoys Soonyoung.

“Whatever you’re thinking, stop thinking it. It’s not what it looks like.” Wonwoo grunts, shoving Bohyuk’s face as the younger tries to taunt him.

“Yet.” Bohyuk says grinning manically. Then turning back to look at Soonyoung, “Nice seeing you again, hyung. It’s been a hot minute.”

“It sure has.” Soonyoung chuckles, reaching up to pat Bohyuk’s head, which he did often when they were younger, “You’re too tall now.” He complains with a pout before he’s being pulled away from Bohyuk by Wonwoo.

“Don’t get too close to him, Soonyoung. Or he’ll pass his douchebaggery on to you too. It’s highly contagious.”

Bohyuk laughs out loud, “My brother, the jealous type.” He says shaking his head fondly.

The what now?

Soonyoung is still confused but lets himself be dragged by Wonwoo further into the house anyways before he’s reminded of why he’s here in the first place. He stops all of a sudden and it causes Wonwoo to bounce back and almost slams into him, “Soonyoung what-"

“Wonwoo, I’m not ready to see auntie again.” He whispers, heart hammering inside his chest, he’s looking anywhere but into Wonwoo’s eyes, “You guys have been back for almost, what? Three years? And I’ve never even showed my face not once.” He gasps, what was he even doing? Wonwoo already hates him as it is. He’s probably told his mom all about his ex-childhood friend and how it was super exciting to make fun of him. “This isn’t a good idea. You know what, forget it. She most likely have forgotten about me anyway. I-" He makes to pivot back towards the door but Wonwoo’s warm hands on his shoulders stop him from doing so. Soonyoung doesn’t move. Unable to not look Wonwoo in the eye because he was bending down and locking their gazes.

“Soonyoung? Hey, look at me.” Wonwoo says and his voice is so gentle Soonyoung can’t. He just can’t. He sees Wonwoo leaning in, rendering him unable to look at anything else but him, “Listen, my mom has loved you like her own since we were seven. She still talks about you all the time, keeps asking me when I could bring you over for her to meet you again because she’s seen auntie and uncle so many times already but never you.” 

And then it hits Soonyoung. Of course. The only reason Wonwoo invited him over was because it was auntie’s birthday, to make her happy. Not because he wanted to re-introduce Soonyoung to his family. Soonyoung wanted to scoff at himself, re-introduce him as what? His annoying classmate? The person he likes to make fun of the most? 

He blinks and then he sees Wonwoo sending him an encouraging smile. Soonyoung tamps down the warm feeling in his belly, that isn’t real. His eyes are playing tricks on him. 

“Right.” He nods, shrugging off Wonwoo’s hands. Missing the way Wonwoo’s smile immediately slips off his features, “Let’s get this over with.”

“Yeah.” Wonwoo agrees, one of his hands reaching out towards Soonyoung once more, he thinks Wonwoo is about to hold on to his wrist again but the hand swerves upwards and gently takes the box of cake from his hands, “Yeah. Okay, this way.” He mumbles, jerking his head for Soonyoung to follow.

When they enter the kitchen, the dining table is filled with an array of delicious looking Korean dishes and they see Mrs. Jeon’s head stuck in the refrigerator, humming the happy birthday song to herself. Wonwoo sighs with a smile and sets the box down on the island where there’s space, “You need help getting something from in there, mom?” He asks.

“Oh no, no. I’m fine. Thank you, sweetie. I was just trying to hide all the sweets from your dad before he gets back, you know how he is-" She rattles on even as she’s pulling away from the fridge with an armful of what looked like an assortment of chocolates. She still looked as youthful as Soonyoung remembers. Although she now had her hair cut into a bob instead of her long black locks and even though there’re a few wrinkles here and there, she still had her same motherly smile from ten years ago, “I keep telling him to watch his diet because neither of us are getting younger, you’re about to enter college next year already and soon it’ll just be the two of us when you and Bohyuk decide to leave the nest.” She rounds the dining table, walking past Soonyoung and going straight to the cupboards, “Oh hi there, Soonyoung. And he thinks he’s being stealthy,” Soonyoung looks at Wonwoo and sees him snickering to himself silently. He elbows the taller, trying his best to fight off a smile of his own, “Like he thinks he can hide sweets from me? In my kitchen? Please. Wonwoo, make yourself useful and prepare the table. Soonyoung, would you be a gentleman and hide these on the very top shelf for me? I’m afraid I’m too short.”

“O-Of course, auntie.” Soonyoung stutters, taking the chocolates from Wonwoo’s mom and reaching up the shelf. “All the way to the back, there we go. Thank you, Soonyoung-" And then she pauses. He sees exact the moment Mrs. Jeon realizes his presence because he’s smiling at her when her eyes widen like saucers and she brings her hand up to her mouth with a very demure gasp, “Oh my God, Soonyoung!” And then he’s being pulled into a tight but very familiar motherly hug, “Oh my God!” She pulls away and cradles his head between her palms, looking up at him with teary eyes, “It really is you! I can’t believe my idiot son Wonwoo finally grew a pair and asked you ou-"

“Asked you to come to our house!” Wonwoo suddenly half-yells over his mother, “Yes. Surprise mom, yay!”

Mrs. Jeon is squinting her eyes at Wonwoo while still gently holding on to Soonyoung’s head, he feels like he’s missing out on something but anyway. 

“Happy Birthday, Auntie.” Soonyoung says and the way her eyes light up and the way her smile turns into a full blown grin which resembles Wonwoo's a lot makes his insides melt. He really did miss her.

She gives him another hug, shorter this time, and smiles up at him again, “Thank you. You’ve grown so much since I last saw you. I’ve heard so much about how much you’ve grown and how you’ve gotten so wonderful in dancing! I kept telling Wonwoo to invite you over but he keeps saying he’s not ready!”

Soonyoung ignores the way his heart painfully clenches at that. 

“He’s a chicken, that’s why.” Bohyuk says from behind them and Soonyoung pretends not to see Wonwoo lightly pulling on his younger brother’s ear, “Ow. Uncle! Uncle!”

“Don’t mind those two, Soonyoung. Come chat with me while we wait for their dad.” Mrs. Jeon takes him by the hand and gets him to sit on one of the chairs before turning to open the fridge again, “Did you want some water? Or juice? Hm. Coffee?”

“Just a glass of water would be perfect, auntie.” Soonyoung says quietly, fidgeting in his seat and watching Wonwoo in the corner of his eye as he gets rid of Bohyuk and sits himself down beside Soonyoung.

“Me too, mom.” Wonwoo says.

“Get it yourself.” Mrs. Jeon sets the glass of water in front of Soonyoung and sits down on the chair across from him with a smile.

“As I was saying, I’ve heard so much about you but I want to hear it from you. How have you been?” She asks, ever so gentle.

“I’m sure my mom has told you almost everything, even the embarrassing bits, I bet.” Soonyoung laughs at the memory of his own mom coming home from their weekly brunch, eyes always shining like she’s just heard the best gossip yet. Which she probably did.

Mrs. Jeon tilts her head and glances at Wonwoo who’s uncapping the bottle of juice and pouring a glass for himself, “Oh but your mom and I don’t really talk about our sons when we get together during the weekends, we usually talk about mom stuff, you know what I mean?” She says with a wink and Soonyoung honestly does not know what she means so he respectfully shakes his head. She lets out a small laugh and her eyes shift towards Wonwoo again who’s now drinking from his cup, “What I’m saying is that it’s actually Wonwoo who updates me about everything that’s going on with you.”

With that, Wonwoo’s spitting out his orange juice all over the kitchen sink and coughing his lungs out. Mrs. Jeon’s immediately on her feet patting his back and taking away the glass of juice from his hands, “Jesus. Son, are you okay?” She asks but she looks like she’s trying not to laugh.

Soonyoung’s still on his seat, not having moved an inch and wide-eyed because what? That can’t be possible. Wonwoo? Complimenting his dancing behind his back, that must be a lie. He was showing his video around and making fun of him.

“Mom, please.” Wonwoo groans, coughing dying down into smaller and weaker ones.

“What? I’m your mom, it’s my job to embarrass you in front of your longest friend.” 

Wonwoo sniffles, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and sending Soonyoung an apologetic glance.

“Oh, Soonyoung! I wish I could’ve also been there watching your performance. Good thing Wonwoo took a video of it and showed it to me,” Soonyoung swallowed, it was _that_ video. “You were so amazing! You literally, what was the term that Wonwoo used for it? Oh! You literally _ate_ the stage, _devoured_ it, Soonyoung!” She said, clapping her hands together and he was so confused because she couldn’t be talking about that same video, could she? “Especially the part where you had your solo and you did that double turn and jumped straight to do that cool move, I don’t know the name for but Wonwoo wouldn’t stop replaying that part, he was too enthusiastic in my opinion. Bohyuk was getting so bored with the amount of times he kept showing it to us.”

Oh. 

“Th-thank you, auntie.” Soonyoung ducks his head shyly, he knows he’s red all over. He didn’t really know how to handle compliments. Contrary to popular belief. He chances a look at Wonwoo’s direction and sees him covering his face with his hands but the red on the tips of his ears is a color that Soonyoung knows all too well, his heart is suddenly beating lightning fast. Could it be that he’s had the wrong assumption about what Wonwoo’s been showing around all this time?

“It’s true.” Wonwoo mutters, lifting his head to look at Soonyoung but not looking brave enough to uncover his mouth, his cheeks looked extremely pink from where Soonyoung was sitting, “You were really awesome in that performance.”

“Wonwoo-" Soonyoung starts to say but he’s cut off at the sound of the front door banging open.

“Honey! I’m home!” Mr. Jeon shouts suggestively from the doorway.

“Dad, please stop!” Bohyuk yells from the living room.

—

Auntie’s birthday dinner goes by smoothly. Thankfully, without anymore embarrassing reveals. They sang her a happy birthday and Wonwoo and Soonyoung served them their gummy bear empire cake for her to make a wish and blow her birthday candles. She almost cried at the gesture but shook it off with a grateful hug. When dinner was over, Soonyoung stood with the Jeons to start fixing and washing up.

“Soonyoung, dear. Don’t bother,” Mrs. Jeon says, touching his arm, “Go wait for Wonwoo in his room and we’ll fix up okay? You’re our guest.” She smiles at him.

“But-"

“It’s alright, son.” Mr. Jeon says as he passes behind Mrs. Jeon with a quick affectionate peck on her cheek, “It’s why we made two boys so that they could be useful in manual labor.” He winks and starts piling up the dishes.

Soonyoung nods at Mrs. Jeon with a polite smile and looks over at Wonwoo who’s transferring the leftovers, when their eyes meet, Wonwoo grins at him, “I’ll be right there. It’s the second door to the right.”

He gives him a minute nod and navigates his way to Wonwoo’s room that is very...well, very Wonwoo. 

It’s not spick and span clean but it’s tidy. There’s a bed, covered in purple with cat patterned blankets and pillow cases. A bookshelf on the side filled with books that have obviously been read more than once if the spines were anything to go by. A big computer desk with a big screen and a very comfortable looking chair, three different models of cameras lying around. Soonyoung shakes his head, endeared. Wonwoo’s always been such a huge nerd ever since they were kids. There are also some frames hanging up on the wall and upon closer inspection, he realizes it’s some of his academic certificates and awards, accumulated throughout the years. There’s that one certificate that Soonyoung vividly remembers. The one he received when he became the top-notcher.

He’s still gazing at that specific frame when a soft knock comes from the door and Wonwoo comes in, “Hi, sorry about that.” He says, scratching the back of his neck.

Soonyoung shakes his head, “You're fine.”

Wonwoo stops to stand beside him, sees what he was looking at and sighs, “Remember when we were nine and I joined my first science contest?” He asks softly, almost cautiously.

Soonyoung turns to look at him but Wonwoo was staring solemnly at the frame perched on the wall. He _does_ remember actually, he remembers fighting with some random kid who kept telling Wonwoo that he was stupid because his volcano science project didn’t make it to the top ten and that he was unoriginal. He remembers his mom having to physically remove him from the kid because Soonyoung was trying to get one in because at that time Wonwoo was the smaller one between the two of them. Wonwoo always needed Soonyoung to defend him and back then, nine year old Soonyoung was more than happy to do so because Wonwoo was his best friend.

“Yeah, I remember beating this random kid up because he insulted your volcano.” He chuckled at the thought.

Wonwoo smiled but shook his head, “Yeah, that was very heroic of you. But no, it was something else, actually.”

Soonyoung watches him bite on his chapped lips before continuing, “I remember telling you I didn’t make it to the final ten and I remember almost bawling my eyes out because I wanted to make you, my family and your family proud. I didn’t care what that random kid thought about my volcano. I just wanted to at least make it to the top five to make your trip to the school gym worthwhile. And then I remember you holding my hand with a growing black eye because truth be told, that kid was way bigger than you, he definitely landed more punches on you than you did on him,” Wonwoo pauses to laugh softly at the memory, “Anyway, you held my hand and told me that you believe that the next time I join a science contest, I’ll win and when I do, you’ll treat me ice cream.” 

Soonyoung can’t stop looking at him as the realization dawns on him.

“Will you buy me ice cream...” Soonyoung mumbles repeating Wonwoo’s words from their Sophomore year when Wonwoo excitedly showed him his certificate and asked him for some.

Wonwoo nods and continues, “When we moved away, I didn’t know how to contact you. My mom and dad had said that eventually, we’d move back. That it was just for the time being because of the nature of dad’s work. They told me that by the time we come back, I should be ready because you were sure to become a great person and that I should become someone worthy of being your best friend. And I agreed with them and used that as a motivation to become better. I was never athletic to begin with so I just studied and studied and joined more contests. By the time I got back and saw you, I thought, finally! But,” He shrugs a shoulder, “You seemed like you wanted nothing to do with me anymore. I thought perhaps I deserved it because I left without a word but I also thought maybe if I worked hard, you’d give me another chance of becoming your best friend. Except I feel like, I drove you away more than I intended to pull you back in.”

That’s. A lot to take in.

Soonyoung opens his mouth to try and say something but nothing comes out. Wonwoo’s still smiling at him but it wasn’t the smile that reached his eyes. Soonyoung wants to say something, to ease that barely visible furrow in his brows. To make him smile at him a real smile again. He’s still gaping like a weird fish when Wonwoo looks down and bends into a squat on the floor.

When Soonyoung’s gaze follows him he sees Wonwoo scratching the back of a cat’s ear. A familiar looking cat, “Is that?” 

Wonwoo looks up at him, “Soonie? Yup, this is her now.”

“H-Her?” Soonyoung stutters, berating himself for not coming up with anything intelligent to say.

Wonwoo lets out a low chuckle, “Yep. I figured out too late that maybe I should’ve thought things through first before naming her after my favorite person in the world.”

“Fa-favorite?” Soonyoung’s head was spinning, he sits himself down on the floor too, unable to process everything fast enough. Is this food coma? Or has Soonyoung just been extra dense?

All this time, Wonwoo- Wonwoo’s-

As soon as his butt lands on the floor, Soonie sashays towards him and rubs herself all over his legs. He stares at how her eyes seem to become small slanted slits when she’s purring and finally sees what Wonwoo meant by them looking alike.

And because Soonyoung can never say the right thing, that’s something he’s learned very well today,

“I thought you hated me.” 

Is what he says.

Wonwoo’s mouth drops, “You thought I hated you?” He shakes his head and repeats it to himself and then back at Soonyoung, “Excuse me, wait. You thought I hated you?”

Soonyoung flinches and lowers his head, embarrassed. Now that he thinks about it, Wonwoo’s actions were mostly fond, most of the time coming off in an annoying way but that was always how he had showed his affections even when they were kids and Soonyoung had been so blinded by his feelings of betrayal that Wonwoo left him without a word, blinded by his grudge that he assumed Wonwoo hated his guts.

“I thought you named her after me because you thought I was ugly, not to mention dirty when you first picked her up.” Soonyoung mumbles mostly to himself but sure enough Wonwoo was listening to every word.

“I named her after you because she was cute!”

“I- You think I’m cute?” He looks up at Wonwoo with wide eyes.

“The cutest in the world!”

Soonyoung blinks and covers his cheeks, “Oh. W-well, I thought you were showing everyone the video of me making a mistake in the choreography...”

“What mistake? Where?”

“The double pirouette. I didn’t land it properly.” His voice trails into a whisper when Wonwoo vigorously shakes his head.

“No! No way. I don’t even know what you’re talking about. Everything looked perfect in my eyes but then again I’m not a dancer and you guys probably detect those technical things more than the audience do. I guess I should have asked permission from you first before showing it to everybody. Junnie and Myungho were laughing at me the whole time.”

“Yeah, I guess I had everything wrong all this time.” Soonyoung sighs, defeated. He runs his fingers through Soonie’s fur and she meows, satisfied. When he looks up, Wonwoo’s already looking at him, waiting for him. Like he has been patiently doing so all these years, “I’m sorry,” He says, “I’ve been a shitty childhood best friend haven’t I?”

“Kind of.” Wonwoo says but there’s a hint of smile in his voice, “But I haven’t exactly been the most honest either.” He’s looking at Soonie instead of the real human Soonyoung when he says this but he peeks a glance at Soonyoung’s direction before averting his gaze again.

“By that you mean...?” 

Wonwoo closes his eyes, inhales and opens his eyes as he was exhaling, looking directly into Soonyoung’s. His heart picks up pace once more at the intensity of his look.

“Soonyoung.”

“Yes?”

“For a very long time now, whenever I look at you, I don’t see my best friend. Not anymore, at least.”

He thinks his heart just stopped beating to slowly break apart muscle per muscle but he nods, “It’s probably what I deser-"

Wonwoo shakes his head and reaches across and over Soonie’s prone body to hold one of Soonyoung’s hands, “Let me finish.” Soonie stares at their clasped hands in front of her, tilts her head and starts licking their fingers, “To make things clear, I’m not trying to push you further away, quite the opposite actually? If you’ll have me.”

“I’m confused, Wonwoo.” Soonyoung mumbles, scared because Wonwoo wouldn’t just get straight to the point. He’s about to die over here.

“I’m saying I’m confessing to you right now and I know you’ve had the wrong idea about me these past few years. I promised myself I wouldn’t tell you my feelings until I was absolutely sure I was not risking our friendship but,” He sighs dejectedly, “I guess I already have.” Wonwoo gives him a small defeated smile, like all his fight has left him.

“I like you, Soonyoung. I’ve liked you for a very long time now. And if you don’t want anything to do with me after this. It’s alright. I just. Wanted to tell you, at least before we graduated.”

Soonyoung, for the nth time today, is stock still. He- Wonwoo-?

“You like me?”

Wonwoo nods, “Very much.”

“You don’t hate me.”

Wonwoo shakes his head, “Never did. Never will.”

“Even though I’ve been such a jerk to you.”

“I might have been too blinded, but really, you weren’t.”

“I-"

_I like you too._

Wonwoo squeezes his hand reassuringly, “You don’t have to give me an answer now. I know you’re trying to process so many things right now, so don’t worry about it.”

Soonyoung looks down at their clasped hands and at Soonie who’s comfortably lying on his lap, he thinks about everything they’ve been through from day one and how life was before Wonwoo, after Wonwoo, and back again. How he cried for hours on end when his mom had told him the Jeons had to leave and that Wonwoo’s too far to get to. How he took off his mind from his best friend’s disappearance by dancing his feelings out and meeting new friends. He thought he had been happy but the feeling he got when he saw Wonwoo again in the flesh was so different than anything he had ever felt before, he thought for a second that he could run towards him and leap into his arms, ask him how he’s been, if his favorite food was still Kimchi Friend Rice but the crushing feeling of not being remembered overpowered him and inside him grew an unknowingly huge feeling of emptiness that had probably been there as soon as Wonwoo had left and had kept growing and growing as the weeks turned into months and the months turned into years. Of not being good enough anymore to fill the void in Wonwoo’s life, of not being the Soonyoung that he promised he would be for Wonwoo when they grew up.

He doesn’t realize he’s crying until he feels Soonie lick the damp warmth on his hand, he blinks biting his trembling lower lip, “I missed you, Wonwoo.” Is all he’s able to say before breaking down into small sobs and before he feels Wonwoo’s warm embrace.

“I missed you so much,” He hiccups, crying on Wonwoo’s shoulder, “That’s all I know right now. That I missed you and it hurt so bad when I thought you didn’t like me anymore, that I couldn’t be the same best friend that I was for you. I wanted so bad to walk home with you like we did everyday. I wanted to celebrate our birthdays together like before but I was scared you’d say no. I wanted to invite you to my dance competitions because I wanted you to be proud of me like how you were so proud of me when I did taekwondo when we were kids. I wanted to be your best friend again. And I was so scared that I’ve lost you forever that’s why I kept pushing you away. I did not want to get attached to you anymore because I don’t know if I can handle losing you again for the second time.”

Wonwoo’s arms tighten around him as he cries his heart out, “You will always be, first and foremost, the most important person in my life. I will not promise you that I will stay forever like I did before because I broke that promise and I broke your heart once already. This time, please let me show you.”

Soonyoung nods and he thinks he cries himself to sleep in Wonwoo’s arms. He dreams of two boys playing around in the rain, holding each other’s hands and smiling happily at each other.

  
  


—

  
  


When Soonyoung comes to, he’s met with a furry tail swishing across his face. His brows furrow and he tosses on the bed, trying to reach for his phone but he couldn’t find it under his pillow where he usually puts it and that’s when he wakes up with a jolt, sitting up and recognizes that he is not in his room but Wonwoo’s and Soonie’s on his lap happily rubbing herself on his arm. The events of last night coming back to him at full speed.

He remembers crying. Crying a lot. And oh God, he slams his face back down the pillow, Wonwoo said he liked him! And that Soonyoung doesn’t need to answer him right away but oh my God his heart was about to burst out of his rib cage, “Soonie, is this normal? No. I think I’m about to die.” He tells the cat who just stares back at him innocently.

“Please don’t die yet. I need my best around until we’re around eighty. Ninety if we’re pushing it.” Wonwoo’s voice comes from the slightly ajar door. Soonyoung yelps in surprise, hiding himself underneath the covers, he hears a small thunk on the bedside table so he peeks and sees a glass of water and some aspirin.

“I didn’t know if you were feeling dizzy but I brought some just in case.” 

“Thank you.” Soonyoung mumbles, “Sorry I took your bed.”

“No worries, I just bullied Bohyuk into sharing a room with me for the night.” He laughs and Soonyoung feels the side of the bed dip down from Wonwoo’s weight.

There’s a few moments of silence but he prays that the beating of his heart wasn’t loud enough for Wonwoo to hear.

“I was serious about what I said last night.” Wonwoo starts, “The last thing I want to happen is for you to become conscious of me. If you prefer that we pretend I didn’t confess last night then I am perfectly fine with that. I don’t want you to think that you’re obliged to reply to my confession.”

He sees Wonwoo’s hand resting flat on the bed, right beside his pillow, with the small ounce of bravery that he’s able to muster, he reaches for it and slips his hand underneath it, palm facing upwards. Wonwoo slips his fingers between the spaces of his and starts rubbing small circular motions on the back of Soonyoung’s hand with his thumb. The latter still a little too scared to look at him.

It wasn’t a dream. Wonwoo really likes him. And he’s been the dumbest idiot ever for thinking otherwise.

He takes a deep breath.

“I like you too, you know.” He mumbles softly.

Wonwoo’s thumb stills.

“I have for a long time too.” He adds, closing his eyes.

He feels more of the bed dip down and he knows Wonwoo’s leaning down to get a look at him that’s still hiding beneath the covers, he doesn’t dare open his eyes.

“Really?” Says Wonwoo, voice laced with a tremble and Soonyoung gathers enough courage to open his eyes slowly, he meets Wonwoo’s ever so hopeful gaze.

“Yeah.”

“You’re not saying this because I-"

And for the first time in a long while, Soonyoung’s one hundred percent sure when he says, “No. I like you. I like you, Wonwoo. I always thought I could hate you, shield my heart whatsoever but I can’t. I can never hate you.”

He watches Wonwoo’s expression shift slowly into the one that always made Soonyoung’s heart clench in utter glee. The one that had his eyes crinkling and his nose scrunching like there wasn’t anything in the world that could make him sad. Pure happiness.

“I’m so happy.” Wonwoo says and gently pulls the covers away from Soonyoung’s head, pulling him up onto a sitting position, Soonyoung willingly goes, too busy staring at Wonwoo’s face filled with joy.

“Me too.” He says absentmindedly, “I really like you.”

Wonwoo laughs, the sound vibrating all the way towards the crevice of Soonyoung’s heart, he places both of his hands on either side of Soonyoung’s neck and just stares with a fond smile, “Can I kiss you?” He asks, shy.

Soonyoung swallows down his nervousness because yes I want you to kiss me Wonwoo but I’ve never kissed anyone before.

“I’m sure we’ll learn together.” Wonwoo says and Soonyoung realizes a little too late that he’d said that out loud.

He feels himself nodding, eyes not leaving Wonwoo’s.

They lean in at the same time and their noses bump against each other. They end up giggling like teenage girls at that. 

“Eager?” Wonwoo teases, grinning like a mad man.

“You wish.” Soonyoung replies and finally closes the gap between them. He sighs into the kiss as it starts off innocently, just a touch of their lips. Close mouthed and simple. He’s not sure who initiates the tongue, all he knows is that he’s suddenly back lying on the bed and looking up at Wonwoo, who’s staring back at him, eyes falling halfway closed and lips glistening under the light of the sunrise.

Soonyoung breathes in and pulls him back in, their kisses are sloppy, inexperienced but Soonyoung couldn’t care less. It was Wonwoo. And that was enough to get him going. He gasps when he feels something hard graze the side of his thigh, knowing full well what it was, he smiles against Wonwoo’s lips. 

“Eager?” He shoots back at Wonwoo, this time waggling his brows. He laughs when Wonwoo groans and buries his face against the juncture of his neck, “You’re gonna be the death of me.” He whispers directly into Soonyoung’s ear and he doesn’t fight the shiver that goes through his body.

He tilts his head to the side to plant a kiss on Wonwoo’s temple before arching upwards and letting Wonwoo know that he was basically in the same state, “We’re two still growing eighteen year old boys.” He pauses when he feels Wonwoo grind back down against his clothed erection, “It’s normal.” He finishes breathlessly.

“Whole. Family.” Wonwoo mutters, leaving open mouthed kisses down his neck, “Down. Stairs.”

“Mm. Yeah, we should probably stop.” Soonyoung’s fingers slide under the hem of Wonwoo’s shirt, gently trailing his hand up and down his skin, “Don’t want to get caught.”

“Hngh. Yeah.” Wonwoo nods but instead of stopping he goes back up to kiss Soonyoung filthy, “Mom, cooked pancakes. Better head down there...” He says in between kisses.

Soonyoung agrees but he doesn’t stop kissing Wonwoo, can’t seem to stop kissing Wonwoo. He feels addicted. But yeah, they should probably stop, go down and eat breakfast that mom prepared for them, wait. Mom? No. Wonwoo’s mom. Yeah, auntie. But then where’s Soonyoung’s mom? 

Oh God.

He jerks back all of a sudden, eyes snapping open and pushing Wonwoo a whole arm’s length away, “Soon-"

“Oh my God, my mom’s gonna kill me!” 

“Soonyo-"

“I forgot to contact her all day yesterday. She didn’t even know I went to your house! Holy fu-"

“Soonyoung!” Wonwoo voice snaps him back to reality, he blinks and sees Wonwoo laughing at him, “Calm down.” He says.

“Wha-"

“Auntie knows you slept over. Mom, called her last night after you fell asleep.”

“Oh. Oh great, thanks.” He sighs and looks around, finding his phone sitting on top of the bedside table right beside the glass of water and medicine that Wonwoo brought earlier. He reaches for it and unlocks the screen.

**어머니**

**7:34pm**

_Soonyoung-ah, it’s almost 8pm, where are you?_

**어머니**

**8:46pm**

_Soonyoung, your dad’s home. Are you coming home for dinner?_

**어머니**

**9:01pm**

_Kwon Soonyoung. Why are you not replying?!_

**어머니**

**9:31pm**

_Nvm, I heard you’re sleeping over the Jeons’ tonight. Send them my thanks! Get home safe tomorrow._

He heaves a sigh of relief at the last text, it was a good thing his mom had a huge soft spot for the Jeons or he could’ve been dead meat.

“You okay?” Wonwoo asks and Soonyoung looks up at him, an apology hanging at the tip of his tongue.

“Yeah, sorry. I, uh-" He ducks his head, blushing. “Ruined the moment.”

Wonwoo laughs and stands to pick up Soonie from where she’s lazily lounging by his feet, “Believe me, you didn’t. I don’t think I could’ve stopped myself if you didn’t.” 

Soonyoung grabs a pillow and chucks it at Wonwoo’s direction, he hits his butt.

“Come on,” Wonwoo says, grinning down at him, “Let’s have some breakfast.”

Soonyoung smiles back, “Yeah.” 

—

“So, Soonyoung what are your plans after graduation?” 

“I was thinking of pursuing dance.” He scratches his cheek, shyly. “Aiming to look for a university that’s centered on the arts.” 

“Oh! How lovely, Wonwoo was also talking about wanting to pursue the arts.” 

Shocked, Soonyoung turns to Wonwoo who’s taking a sip from his cup of coffee, “Were you?”

Wonwoo nods setting down his cup back on the table, “Film. Actually.”

“Since when did you get into film?”

Bohyuk snorts from his seat across Wonwoo, “Since the first time he held a camera.” Then because his purpose is to annoy his older brother he adds, “That’s always his excuse for wanting to watch your performances and competitions. But he probably has a private stash of Soonyoung-hyung focused fancams.” 

Wonwoo doesn’t react but Bohyuk flinches out of nowhere, “Assho-"

“Jeon Bohyuk.” Mrs. Jeon warns without looking up from her meal.

“Interesting.” Soonyoung ponders, placing his hand on Wonwoo’s thigh under the table, making his eyes widen. He squeezes and starts massaging tiny patterns much to Wonwoo’s obvious fright. He swallows loudly and suddenly turns to Soonyoung.

“Do you want to look for a university together?” He asks, voice higher than normal.

It takes a few seconds for Soonyoung to respond. Nodding enthusiastically when he does, “Yeah. That would be awesome.”

He feels Wonwoo’s hand coming up to cover his own that was still on his thigh, “Then it’s settled. Any ideas?”

Soonyoung smiles, “I _doughnut_ care as long as you’re with me.”

He thinks he can hear Bohyuk fake gagging at the side but he’s too distracted with the way Wonwoo’s eyes are suddenly sparkling and at the big smile growing on his face at Soonyoung’s pun.

It was a long time coming but hey, at least they finally figured it out.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> There might be some typos lurking around, I apologize. I finished this at 5am hfgdgfhdg hahahah thank you for reading though! I’m jeonkwonwhoa on twt~


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